That is one of the lines that I myself used as a dispensational fundamentalist. I was taught and believed that the world situation was getting worse than ever before in history in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. I would hear about the general moral decay in society, or the impending doom of nuclear holocaust, or about wars and rumors of wars, or the increase in famines, earthquakes, and so on. I am sure that any Christian, or Ex-Christian reading this knows exactly what I am talking about.

Is it true? Are things really getting worse and worse? If you say yes, what countries or time periods are you comparing to make that assessment?

When I was a Christian, I was constantly told that Christianity was unique and unlike any other religion. Although no other religion was every closely examined in any Church or Christian book recommended to me, still this was the message I was continually expected to accept.

Below is a prayer of praise written in 240 B.C to OSIRIS, god of the Egyptians. The prayer is presented here verbatim without any alterations to the original text. As you read the words, replace the various names of deity with Christian terms and see how unique Christianity really is when compared to the competing religions thriving 2000 years ago.

"Companies of the GODs" in this prayer and the like could be "Heavenly Host" or "Angels". "Thou are the Soul of Ra" could be reworded as "Thou art the bright and morning star" or perhaps, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Anyway, I am sure you get the idea.

Scientific inquiry into the origins of Christianity begins to-day with the question: "Did Jesus Christ really live?" Was there a man named Jesus, who was called the Christ, living in Palestine nineteen centuries ago, of whose life and teachings we have a correct account in the New Testament? The orthodox idea that Christ was the son of God -- God himself in human form -- that he was the creator of the countless millions of glowing suns and wheeling worlds that strew the infinite expanse of the universe; that the forces of nature were the servants of his will and changed their courses at his command -- such an idea has been abandoned by every independent thinker in the world -- by every thinker who relies on reason and experience rather than mere faith -- by every man of science who places the integrity of nature above the challenge of ancient religious tales.

Not only has the divinity of Christ been given up, but his existence as a man is being more and more seriously questioned. Some of the ablest scholars of the world deny that he ever lived at all. A commanding literature dealing with the inquiry, intense in its seriousness and profound and thorough in its research, is growing up in all countries, and spreading the conviction that Christ is a myth. The question is one of tremendous importance. For the Freethinker, as well as for the Christian, it is of the weightiest significance. The Christian religion has been and is a mighty fact in the world. For good or for ill, it has absorbed for many centuries the best energies of mankind. It has stayed the march of civilization, and made martyrs of some of the noblest men and women of the race: and it is to-day the greatest enemy of knowledge, of freedom, of social and industrial improvement, and of the genuine brotherhood of mankind. The progressive forces of the world are at war with this Asiatic superstition, and this war will continue until the triumph of truth and freedom is complete. The question, "Did Jesus Christ Really Live?" goes to the very root of the conflict between reason and faith; and upon its determination depends, to some degree, the decision as to whether religion or humanity shall rule the world.

Does the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli say that "The Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion?"

Yes, but separationists need to be careful in explaining the historical background of this treaty.

In 1797, six years after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the United States government signed a treaty with the Muslim nation of Tripoli that contained the following statement (numbered Article 11 in the treaty):

As the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the law, religion or tranquility of Musselmen; and as the states never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mohometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever produce an interruption of harmony existing between the two countries.

This is a question that scares the crud out of most Christians. I, too, would have been angered and chilled by such words. Obviously it is utter nonsense. On the contrary though, if you really look with unbiased eyes (a major key to true enlightenment), and take into account the issue we just discussed, the lack of evidence concerning a 'physical' Christ, you will find amazing parallels with many ancient traditions. While it is entirely possible that a historical Jesus actually lived, it is also possible that a mythology could have arrived totally out of these earlier mythologies. Although we have very little evidence for a historical Jesus, we certainly have many accounts for the mythologies of the Middle East and Egypt during the first century and before that appear similar to the Christ savior story.

Reading from Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia, 1948, Volume 4, page 140, we find that Easter is the Greatest Festival of the Christian Church, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ - which festival was named after the ancient Anglo Saxon Goddess of Spring!

I HAVE AN EASTER challenge for Christians. My challenge is simply this: tell me what happened on Easter. I am not asking for proof. My straightforward request is merely that Christians tell me exactly what happened on the day that their most important doctrine was born.

Believers should eagerly take up this challenge, since without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. Paul wrote, "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not." (I Corinthians 15:14-15)

The conditions of the challenge are simple and reasonable. In each of the four Gospels, begin at Easter morning and read to the end of the book: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20-21. Also read Acts 1:3-12 and Paul's tiny version of the story in I Corinthians 15:3-8. These 165 verses can be read in a few moments. Then, without omitting a single detail from these separate accounts, write a simple, chronological narrative of the events between the resurrection and the ascension: what happened first, second, and so on; who said what, when; and where these things happened.

A delusion is defined as a false personal belief based on incorrect inference about external reality and firmly sustained despite of what everyone else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary (DSM-IV, p. 765).

Religion is another fertile cause of insanity. Mr. Haslam, though he declares it sinful to consider religion as a cause of insanity, adds, however, that he would be ungrateful, did he not avow his obligation to Methodism for its supply of numerous cases. Hence the primitive feelings of religion may be misled and produce insanity; that is what I would contend for, and in that sense religion often leads to insanity.

Most people's religion is what they want to believe, not what they do believe. And very few of them stop to examine its foundations."

Glen Milstein , doctoral student from Teacher's College, Columbia University says that Religious faith effects the way you view the mental illness of a relative. To declare that a relative is incurable is a direct challenge to religious faith when it comes to mental illness.

Philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote:

"'Religion is based . . . mainly upon fear . . . fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand . . . . My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race.'"

The Holy Bible is held by many to be the actual, inspired word of God. If this were true, God should have his mouth washed out with soap.

God is Good Always

According to recent Gallup Polls, over 83% of the population of the United States believe that the Bible is God's Word. The Bible is the world's all-time, best selling book with over 2 billion copies sold in at least 1,800 languages, yet paradoxically it is probably the least COMPLETELY read book in the history of the world. If more people actually took the time to read what was actually in the Bible, there would be a lot less people who still believed that it had been authored by an omnipotent, perfectly "virtuous" creator.

It is a trend in Christianity to always get back to the roots of the movement. Apostasy is something to be feared and reformation something held in esteem. Usually, at least in fundie circles, reformation means returning to the source, i.e. the Bible. Where the Bible is silent, the earliest practitioners of Christianity are consulted, it being thought that since they were nearer the source, then they had a more accurate understanding of Christ and the "apostle's" intentions.

It was a favorite apologetic of mine, while serving my tenure as a fundified believer, to lightly dismiss any embarrassing history of Christianity with a thoughtless wave of the proverbial, "They weren't real Christians."

How easily I disallowed centuries of the undeniable evidence of terrible behavior by Christians as their faith was played out in real life. I simply judged them as not having a "real" faith, or not being "really" saved.

Of course whenever I condemned and dismissed those "false" saints of the past I was also subtly congratulating myself for my "real" and "authentic" salvation that was plainly witnessed to me by the power of the Holy Spirit in my day to day life. I rested in the assurance that I was blessed with true enlightenment and grace, while those poor so called believers from past generations, especially those who participated in the heinous "Crusades" and other such atrocities, were either charlatans or perhaps vessels unto dishonor (Romans 9:2).

I could also easily negotiate the distance between the past and present day to find fault with contemporary professing Christians. It is not a far jump in fundie logic to suppose that If there were vast numbers of "tares" (Matthew 13:30) in the middle ages "Church", then quite apparently today's "Assemblies" are undoubtedly filled with as many fakes, if not more. I had the confidence that I was not a tare, because I bore fruit! Any true Christian can ultimately tell a false believer from the real thing. How? -by their fruits! (Matthew 7:20) - just ask them!

I remained staunchly virulent in my negative estimation of ancient Christian's professions of faith until a certain fog of ignorance was lifted.

The following three letters were penned nearly one thousand years ago. They reveal the personal faith and convictions of three professing and devoted Christians as they fought the good fight of faith against what they called Moors and Turks, which we would now call Islamics.

3 And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And when there was light, God saw the Date, that it was Monday, and he got down to work; for verily, he had a Big Job to do.

4 And God made pottery shards and Silurian mollusks and pre-Cambrian limestone strata; and flints and Jurassic Mastodon tusks and Picanthropus erectus skulls and Cretaceous placentals made he; and those cave paintings at Lasceaux. And that was that, for the first Work Day.

5 And God saw that he had made many wondrous things, but that he had not wherein to put it all. And God said, Let the heavens be divided from the earth; but not too deep.

To all of you fight fans out there, I don't need to remind you what a truly historic match-up this upcoming Duel of the Demigods is shaping up to be. Each fighter has his own strengths and weaknesses, and their differing styles and abilities should make this a classic bout.

It's an idea who's time has definitely come. It's the God of the Month Club!

Not only is it a fun club, but it is educational as well.

For instance, I learned that "MORPHEUS" is some Greek God of dreams who played prominently in Ovid's "Metamorphoses". All this time I have only associated that name with one of the the lead characters in the 1999 science fiction thriller, "The Matrix." (it was a pretty good flick, btw!")

The subtle symbolism the writers of the movie script were trying to convey was completely lost on my GM ignorance. (Greek mythology / God of the Month)

Don't be a drooling idiot like me when it comes to knowing your GODs! Get a complete and full revelation. Join GMC now!

I stumbled on another "ex" Christian testimonial site tonight and was pretty damned impressed with the story I read. Although I empathize with the difficulties this young man went through to shed himself of irrational religion, I envy him that he was able to think so coherently at such a young age.

Then again, why be jealous? At least I found freedom eventually, right?

Interestingly enough, my 13 year old daughter is having some of the same discussions with me that this youngster had with his own parents. The parallels between my daughter and this person are striking. You see, to understand what I am saying you must realize that for over half my little girl's life, she was part of a completely committed, fundie, evangelical, non-Catholic, believing family.

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